But his meeting was taking too long. The people had been disconnected from God for longer than was healthy, and so they grew impatient and built an idol: an image that falsely represented God.
The idol the Israelites fashioned was a calf or young bull, which symbolized strength and fertility and brought with it illicit sexual practices (32.6).
This act infuriated Yahweh. How could the people he had just delivered from bondage, so quickly turn their backs on him and return to the enslaving practices they knew in Egypt?
Being made in the image of God, we each have a spark in us, that when fanned by connection with God, lights up our entire lives. This is where we experience the most substance and life.
But we are also capable of letting the spark grow dim, allowing darkness to enter our lives and rob us of the life we should be living.
This element of the story is a great reminder of the dangers of disconnecting from God. Tomorrow we'll use this passage to ask: "Does God change his mind?"
5 comments:
I agree that the spark can grow dimer, even though people think once redeemed always redeemed (and therefore you'll always have Jesus fully present in your heart).
It is certainly a dangerous thing when we humans start to sense void and emptiness in our lives. Without a superbly firm foundation, one can easily drift back to old ways or to new ways that offer a destructive "quick fix". Great post!
Love from Vietnam :)
Or the story is a great tool of an imperialistic religion to remind people through circular logic that worshiping anything other than the 'true god' is a loss of one's faith and soul.
Exodus 32:9, the very same passage from which you take your subject matter, has your god saying to Moses that his people are 'stiff-necked.' Other translations say 'obstinate,' others say, 'stubborn,' and so on. Thus, in the parable your bible offers, closed-mindedness is painted in a negative light, yet you, like so many before you, reverse the objects of the parable and create the closed-mindedness of only believing in a 'true god.' The point of this part of your bible is not that Moses's people worship a false idol, it's that, merely, they worship an idol.
I respect your religion, and do not wish to dissuade or mutate anyone's beliefs or faith. But from one with a Masters of Arts in Theology and a Bachelors in Biblical Studies, I would have once expected someone with the capacity for a multifaceted viewpoint.
Thanks for your comments Nicolas. These stories certainly are multifaceted and it's very difficult to cover all the angles in a blog post :)
In relation to "worshiping anything other than the true god" - that is the story we tell. As Judeo-Christians, we believe God created a good world and wants humans to enjoy that world - we also recognize the life giving hierarchy within creation, that affirms God as the source of everything, and the one to whom we look for life.
My journey has taught me that there are ways to live in harmony with God and the world, and ways to not to. I find that I experience the most substantive life when I participate in ways that bring harmony.
I am stiff-necked, obstinate, and stubborn, and constantly have to fight to suppress the parts of me that want to participate in things that don't satisfy and do harm to both me and others around me.
Thanks Thai Fam! Can't wait to see all of you! Hopefully sooner than later :)
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